Week 4 GI Discussion Prompts
1. A 25-year-old male graduate student is seen in the office with the chief complaint of upper
abdominal pain. He states that he noticed the pain intermittently over the past several weeks.
He notices that he gets a gnawing pain about 2 hours after he eats. He also notes that he has
some bloating and occasional nausea with the pain. He states that the pain is relieved by
antacids most of the time.
2. A 34-year-old female presents with the complaint of sudden excruciating pain in her back
and points to her flank area on the right side. She rates the pain as 10 on a scale of 1 to 10,
with 10 being the worst. She also complains of nausea with the pain. She states that she has
never had anything like this before, and the pain is subsiding a little now.
3. A 30-year-old male comes in complaining of 2 days of loose to watery diarrhea, 4 to 5 times
a day with significant nausea and one episode of vomiting today. He has a temperature of
100.5 on presentation and an HR of 102. His skin is slightly pale, and he is complaining of
abdominal cramping. He states that he was in his usual state of health prior to the diarrhea
and denies any unusual travel or food. His abdomen is generally tender with no rebound or
guarding.
Case Study Chosen: (List what case you have chosen)
Demographics: Age/Gender
SUBJECTIVE
• CC:
• HPI: (As listed from Case Study Information)
• Subjective: (What questions will you ask? Must be listed by System, ONLY as it
pertains to Chief Complaint/HPI. Should NOT be all systems or full head to toe unless
pertinent).
OBJECTIVE
General:
• VS BP, HR, RR, Weight, Height, BMI
• Physical Exam Elements: (Must be listed by System, ONLY as it pertains to Chief
Complaint/HPI. Should NOT be all systems or full head to toe unless pertinent.)
• POC Testing (any Point of Care (POC) testing specifically performed in the office):
What tests (if any) did you perform during the visit (urine dip, rapid strep, urine pregnancy
test, Glucose finger-stick, etc.)? Leave blank if none.
ASSESSMENT
• Working Diagnosis: (Must include ICD 10)
• Differential Diagnosis:
PLAN
• Diagnostic studies: If any, will be ordered (Labs, X-ray, CT, etc.). Only include if you will
be ordering for your patient. Remember the importance of appropriate resource utilization.
Remember you are managing this patient in the CLINIC setting, NOT THE HOSPITAL.
• Treatment: Must include full Sig/Order for all prescriptions and OTC meds (Name of
medication, dosage, frequency, duration, number of tabs, number of refills). CANNOT only
list drug class. Should follow evidence-based guidelines.
• Referrals: If Applicable
• Education:
• Health maintenance:
• RTC:
Table 1. Common GI Diagnoses. In addition to your SOAP note, you must also complete
the following table. Upload your SOAP note and table to the discussion board.
Diagnosis Signs/Symptoms Gold Standard
Diagnostics
Gold Standard
Treatment
Acute Appendicitis
Acute Cholecystitis
Acute Diverticulitis
Clostridium difficile
Colitis (C-diff)
GERD
Irritable Bowel
Syndrome (IBS)
Duodenal Ulcer
Acute Pancreatitis
Crohn’s Disease
Ulcerative Colitis
